Kasbah of the Udayas

     The Kasbah of the Udayas owes its name to an Arab tribe that settled in southern Morocco in the AH 12th / AD 18th century from which the 'Alawid Sultan Mulay Isma'il (r. AH 1083–1140 / AD 1672–1727) recruited some of his army, parts of which were garrisoned in Rabat to defend it from neighbouring tribes.

The first ribat constructed at this site is mentioned in AH 366 / AD 977 by the geographer Ibn Hawqal, who affirmed that it could accommodate up to 100,000 combatants.

In AH 534 / AD 1140, the Almoravids constructed a kasbah to defend themselves against the Almohad threat. The Almohads besieged and destroyed the kasbah, before reconstructing it in AH 544 / AD 1150 once they had come to power, adding a palace and a mosque. They named it al-Mahdiyya, in homage to their spiritual guide al-Mahdi Ibn Tumart.

After the death of Ya'qub al-Mansur (AH 595 / AD 1199) and the abandonment of the project for a new capital at Ribat al-Fath, the kasbah was deserted.
It was not until the AH 11th / AD 17th century that it was revitalised with the arrival of thousands of Moriscos expelled from Spain, who went on to establish a sort of independent republic that lasted for half a century and acquired great renown as a pirate stronghold.
The Kasbah of the Udayas is currently made up of an upper part founded by the Almohads, and a lower part founded by the 'Alawids.

The Almohad wall that surrounds the kasbah, 2.50 m wide and 8–10 m tall, is built with ashlars and bordered by a sloping esplanade where some old cannon still stand.

Built by Ya'qub al-Mansur, the monumental gateway stands on a knoll and dominates the town. Built of red ochre freestone, it is made up of an arch flanked by two towers and bears repeated sculptural decoration on the inner façade. The spandrels of the arch are framed with a kufic inscription. Snake motifs at the springing point of the festooned arches constitute an unusual addition in Moroccan decoration.

 This gateway leads to a series of three square rooms separated by steps: the first is covered with a domed vault resting on squinches, the second with a dome on pendentives and the third with a barrel vault. One large and one small door open onto the inside of the fortress. A flight of stairs at the back leads to the terrace.

The kasbah contains the oldest mosque in Rabat, Jami' al-'Atiq (AH 544 / AD 1150) whose minaret was restored by Ahmad al-Inglizi, a converted Englishman.
The princely pavilion constructed by Mulay Isma'il is currently home to the Museum of Traditional Arts.

At the beginning of the AH 12th / end of the AD 17th century, the kasbah was endowed with a semaphore signal, warehouses and a defensive burj (the Tower of the Privateers) whose cannons were aimed at the river and the town of Salé.

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El Badi Palace

     El Badi Palace (Arabic: قصر البديع‎ - meaning The incomparable palace) is a ruined palace located in Marrakesh, Morocco. Commissioned by the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, sometime shortly after his accession in 1578, its construction was funded by a substantial ransom paid by the Portuguese after the Battle of the Three Kings.The palace is nowadays a well known tourist attraction.

    The palace took twenty five years to build, with construction finally completed around 1593 and was a lavish display of the best craftmanship of the Saadian period.Constructed using some of the most expensive matrials of the time, including gold and onyx, the colonnades are said to be constructed from marble exchanged with Italian merchants for their equivalent weight in sugar.The original building is thought to have consisted of 360 richly decorated rooms, a courtyard (135×110 m) and a central pool (90×20 m).

    There are several large pavilions on the site, which are believed to have been used as summer houses. The largest on the site is known in Arabic as Koubba el Khamsiniya, which translates into 'The Fifty Pavillion', named either after its surface area of some 50 cubits or the fact that it once contained 50 columns. The site also includes several stables and dungeons.

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Hassan Tower

    Hassan Tower or Tour Hassan (Arabic: صومعة حسان‎) is the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco. Begun in 1195, the tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world along with the mosque, also intended to be the world's largest. In 1199, Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died and construction on the mosque stopped. 

   The tower reached 44 m (140 ft), about half of its intended 86 m (260 ft) height. The rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 200 columns being constructed. The tower, made of red sandstone, along with the remains of the mosque and the modern Mausoleum of Mohammed V, forms an important historical and tourist complex in Rabat.

   Instead of stairs, the tower is ascended by ramps. The minaret's ramps would have allowed the muezzin to ride a horse to the top of the tower to issue the call to prayer.

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Menara gardens

 The Menara gardens are gardens located to the west of Marrakech, Morocco, at the gates of the Atlas mountains. They were built in the 12th century (c. 1130) by the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min.

    The name menara derives from the pavillon with its small green pyramid roof (menzeh). The pavilion was built during the 16th century Saadi dynasty and renovated in 1869 by sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco, who used to stay here in summertime.

   The pavilion and basin (an artificial lake) are surrounded by orchards and olive groves. The intention of the basin was to irrigate the surrounding gardens and orchards using a sophisticated system of underground channels called a qanat. The basin is supplied with water thanks to an old hydraulic system which conveys water from the mountains located approximately 30 km away from Marrakech

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Hassan 2 Mosque

    The great Hassan II Mosque was commissioned by its namesake, King Hassan II, in part to provide Casablanca with a single landmark monument. On his birthday, July 9, 1980, the king declared:

Designed by French architect Michel Pinseau, construction of the Hassan II Mosque began in July 1986 on land reclaimed (without compensation to the former residents) from a run-down area near the sea. The goal for completion of the mosque was King Hassan II's 60th birthday in 1989, but it ended up not being finished until August 30, 1993.

   The project is estimated to have cost as much as $800 million, funds that were remarkably raised entirely from public subscription. International reports have suggested both local resentment and less-than-voluntary donations to the project, but Moroccans seem to be genuinely proud of their monument. The massive fundraising also had a positive side-effect: it temporarily reduced Morocco's money supply and brought down inflation.

Nearly all the materials of the Hassan II Mosque are from Morocco, with the sole exceptions of the imported white granite columns and glass chandeliers (from Murano, near Venice). The marble is from Agandir, the cedar wood is from the Middle Atlas and the granite comes from Tafraoute.

Over 6,000 Moroccan master craftsmen and artisans were employed to work these local materials into the intricate decorations that embellish the entire structure. When construction passed its deadline in the early 1990s, 1,400 men worked by day and 1,000 worked by night to bring the vast project to completion.

What to See at Hassan II Mosque

The Hassan II Mosque is open to all Muslims at daily prayer times and for special Friday services. Non-Muslim visitors may enter the mosque on guided tours, which take place several times a day in English.

The most distinctive characteristic of the Hassan II Mosque is its spectacular location (see aerial view below) on a platform over the Atlantic Ocean. Uniquely, part of the mosque's floor is made of glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea. Unfortunately, this wonderful feature is mainly for royal use and is off-limits to visitors.

Above, an automated sliding roof opens (on special occasions) to the heavens. Thus the faithful of Casablanca can indeed contemplate God's sky and ocean in accordance with Hassan's wishes.

At 689 feet, the Great Mosque's minaret is the tallest structure in Morocco and the tallest minaret in the world. At night, lasers shine a beam from the top of the minaret toward Mecca, "to point the way to God." The building was designed to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor and electric doors.

The style of the Hassan II Mosque displays strong Moorish influences, bringing to mind the Alhambra and Mezquita in Spain. Horseshoe arches prevail both outside and in, and the walls and columns of the interior are delicately carved in a variety of intricate patterns.

There is a huge women's gallery on the right as you face the prayer area, which is beautifully carved of dark wood. The prayer area in the back is spacious and carpeted in red. Downstairs are Turkish-style baths and fountains for washing.

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Koutoubia Mosque

 The Koutoubia Mosque or Kutubiyya Mosque (Arabic: جامع الكتبية‎ Arabic pronunciation: [jami3 al kutubiyya]) is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The mosque is also known by several other names, such as Jami3 al-Kutubiyah, Kotoubia Mosque, Kutubiya Mosque, Kutubiyyin Mosque, and Mosque of the Booksellers. It is located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh. 

  The mosque is ornamented with curved windows, a band of ceramic inlay, pointed merlons, and decorative arches; it has a large plaza with gardens, and is floodlit at night. The minaret, 77 metres (253 ft) in height, includes a spire and orbs. It was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184 to 1199), and has inspired other buildings such as the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat.

 

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Jemaa el Fna

The origin of its name is unclear: Jemaa means "congregational mosque" in Arabic, probablyreferring to a destroyed Almoravid mosque. "Fanâʼ" or "finâ'" can mean "death" or "a courtyard, space in front of a building." Thus, one meaning could be "The mosque or assembly of death," or "The Mosque at the End of the World" A more likely explanation is that it refers to a mosque with a distinctive courtyard or square in front of it.

There’s nowhere in Morocco like the Jemaa el Fna – no place that so effortlessly involves you and keeps you coming back for more. By day, most of the square is just a big open space, in which a handful of snake charmers bewitch their cobras with flutes, medicine men (especially in the northeast of the square) display cures and nostrums, and tooth-pullers, wielding fearsome pliers, offer to pluck the pain from out of the heads of toothache sufferers, trays of extracted molars attesting to their skill. It isn’t until late afternoon that the square really gets going. At dusk, as in France and Spain, people come out for an early evening promenade (especially in Rue Bab Agnaou), and the square gradually fills until it becomes a whole carnival of storytellers, acrobats, musicians and entertainers. Come on down and you’ll soon be immersed in the ritual: wandering round, squatting amid the circles of onlookers, giving a dirham or two as your contribution. If you want a respite, you can move over to the rooftop terraces, such as the Café du Grand Balcon, for a vista over the square, its storytellers and musicians, and the crowds who come to see them.

 

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